$5.2 billion Panama Canal projects opens to the public

The Panama Canal construction was undertaken by the United States in 1904, and saw its completion in 1914, costing the US about $400 million.

The Panama Canal is touted to be one of the seven wonders of the modern world.

The canal zone remained under the United States up until 1999, when it was handed over to the Panamanian Government.

The Panama Canal lock system is a system wherein it helps elevate the ship by about 85 feet to meet the level of the Panama Canal, and then lower it back again.

One of the greatest engineering works after the US built it in 1914, the canal had two locks.

An expansion project was undertaken recently to widen and increase the canal's capacity.

The Panama Canal expansion project began in September 2007, which targeted construction of a third lock for the waterway and doubling the canal's capacity.

The canal's capacity was limited to carrying about 5000 containers, but the expanded one will be able to ferry around 14,000 containers.

The canal controls an approximate 6 percent of the global maritime trade and transport volumes.

The 48-mile long Panama Canal expansion project opened to the public, with a Chinese container ship to be the first to move through the expanded canal.

Opening after two years of delays due to strikes and labour disputes, it saw around 30,000 people attend the occasion.

The new lock system for the canal will be able to accommodate three times more cargo than before.

A Chinese tanker collided with the wall of the Panama Canal, sparking concerns that the newly renovated project may not have adequate space for manoeuvring ships.

This is the third accident since the new project opened to the public a month ago.

The other two incidents were minor, with one of them blamed on a steering error by the ship's personnel.